Digital Pathology refers to the management and interpretation of pathology information in a digital environment. Scanning devices are used to image slides of tissue sections, which may be stained, such that digital slides, e.g., whole slide images are generated. Digital Pathology software enables digital slides to be stored in a computer memory device, viewed on a computer monitor, and analyzed for pathology information.
It is expected that Digital Pathology may enable integration of various aspects of the pathology environment such as paper and electronic records, clinical background information, prior cases, images, and results, among other things. It is also expected that Digital Pathology may enable increased efficiencies such as increased workload capability, access to the right pathologist at the right time, rapid retrieval of cases and diagnoses, and improved workflow among other possible efficiencies. However, there are a number of impediments to the widespread adoption of Digital Pathology and the promise of its various benefits, such as imaging performance, scalability and management.
While certain novel features are shown and described below, some or all of which may be pointed out in the claims, the devices, systems and methods of this disclosure are not intended to be limited to the details specified, since a person of ordinary skill in the relevant art will understand that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the illustrated embodiments and in their operation may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the disclosure. No feature described herein is critical or essential unless it is expressly stated as being “critical” or “essential.”